With a 4-0 victory in Game 7 over the Philadelphia Flyers at Scotiabank Center in Toronto on Saturday, the New York Islanders are headed to the Eastern Conference Final for the first time since 1993. Thomas Greiss stopped all 16 shots in his first career Game 7 while his offense beat Carter Hart three times on 26 shots. “I liked the way we played, I liked our mentality today and we stayed to our identity,” Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. “We wanted to play well on the right side of people and we got contributions through the lineup. Obviously, two defensemen scored, some really good plays, good goaltending, and our special teams were pretty good. You have a chance to win when you play like that.”

New York was dominant off the start with numerous opportunities in the early going. Midway through the first period, Scott Mayfield showed patience from the point and walked down to the faceoff circle before beating Carter Hart over the blocker. It was his first career playoff goal and he joined Denis Potvin as the only Islanders defensemen to score in a Game 7. “Game-winner in Game 7 to go to the Eastern Conference Final, I don’t think anyone thought I’d be scoring it,” Mayfield said. “But I had a lane and just happy I could put it away.”

Less than four minutes later, Andy Greene also joined the list. Derick Brassard took the puck down the right-wing boards and whipped a pass across the zone to Greene sneaking in from the point. The veteran defenseman deposited his second goal of the series after his first playoff goal in a decade in Game 1.

Photo courtesy of The Philadelphia Inquirer

The Islanders tacked on more insurance just past the halfway point of the second. Brock Nelson broke up a play in his own zone and Ryan Pulock sprung a pass to Josh Bailey. The longest-tenured Islander feathered a pass to Nelson who joined the play to make it a 2-on-1 and he calmly inserted it in the empty cage. Before the end of the period, Jake Voracek tried to put home a rebound off of Thomas Greiss but Adam Pelech made a huge save to keep Philadelphia off the board. The second would end 3-0 and the Islanders 20 minutes away from traveling to Edmonton to face the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The third period was classic Islanders shutdown hockey, keeping the Flyers from getting dangerous chances. Alain Vigneault pulled his goalie with just under seven minutes to go but it was too late. Anthony Beauvillier hit the empty net to seal the deal. “It was an unreal game, best game I’ve seen the team play,” Greiss said after his first Stanley Cup Playoff Game 7. “They took most of the stuff away. Happy we got the win here.”

The Islanders will face the Lightning for the first time since the second round in 2016 when Tampa won in five games. Game 1 from Edmonton will be Monday, Sept. 7 at 8 o’clock. New York took two of the three matchups between the two in the regular season.

John Smark